Meanings
whitlow1
plural whitlows
- Inflammation and/or infection in the cuticle and/or the nailbed of a fingernail or toenail.
Near-synonyms: paronychia (in the cuticle), onychia (in the nailbed)
1 more example
'Twas a bad leg allowed me to read the Pilgrim's Progress, and Mark Clark learnt All-Fours in a whitlow.
1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLCSynonyms: felon, nimpingang, wicklow, paronychia, onychia
Whitlow2
plural Whitlows
- A surname.
- A locality in the Gwydir council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounInflammation and/or infection in the cuticle and/or the nailbed of a fingernail or toenail.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna purulent infection at the end of a finger or toe in the area surrounding the nail
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinfīcus“fig-shaped (ulcer)”
- Low Germanfit“abscess”
- Middle Dutchvijt
- Englishwhitlow
From Late Middle English, an alteration of whitflaw, with the first element deriving either from Middle Dutch vijt or Low German fit (“abscess”), borrowed from Latin fīcus (“fig-shaped (ulcer)”), though also influenced by white. The Latin loan also existed in other languages, such as Old English fic (“hemorrhoids”). See flaw.
More words from Middle Dutch, Low German, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دَاحِس
- دَاحِس (dāḥis)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Bulgarian заби́ране, парони́хия
- заби́ране (zabírane)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- парони́хия (paroníhija)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Catalan paroníquia
- paroníquiainfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Chinese Mandarin 瘭, 肉刺
- 瘭 (biāo)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- 肉刺 (ròucì)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Dutch fijt, panaritium
- fijtinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- panaritiuminfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Esperanto paroniĥio
- paroniĥioinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Finnish kynsinauhantulehdus
- kynsinauhantulehdusinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
French panaris
- panarisinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
German Nagelgeschwür, Panaritium
- Nagelgeschwürinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- Panaritiuminfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Greek παρωνυχία
- παρωνυχία (paronychía)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Hungarian körömlob
- körömlobinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Italian giradito, patereccio
- giraditoinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- patereccioinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Japanese 瘭疽
- 瘭疽 (hyōso)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Polish zastrzał
- zastrzałinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Portuguese panarício, paroníquia
- panarícioinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- paroníquiainfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- unheiroinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Romanian panarițiu
- panarițiuinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Russian панари́ций
- панари́ций (panarícij)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Spanish panadizo
- panadizoinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Ukrainian пароні́хія, загні́тник
- пароні́хія (paroníxija)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- загні́тник (zahnítnyk)infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Welsh ewinor, gwlithen
- ewinorinfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- gwlitheninfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
- bystwninfection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail
Cite this entry
whitlow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whitlow
“whitlow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whitlow. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whitlow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whitlow.
Source: whitlow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.